But now, a mysterious virus is spreading throughout America, infecting teenagers with impossible powers. And these four are about to find their lives intertwined in a complex web of deception, loyalty, and catastrophic danger—where one wrong choice could trigger an explosion that ends it all.

I made it through 25% of this and I just could not get into it. I couldn’t connect to the story or the characters, and I found the prose very sophomoric and it just grated on my nerves. I love books where the characters have paranormal powers, but this just felt like a cheap knockoff of X-Men, with the Lambda particle instead of the X gene. The 3 teens who were committing acts of ‘terrorism’ reminded me of the bad group of mutants in teenage form. There was even a scene at a lake where they destroy the dam! I mean seriously, if you’re going to rip off X-Men, can’t you pick a different setting?

I was bored with it and just couldn’t bring myself to give a crap about anything that was happening. Will I ever try again? Maybe, but it’s not likely.

It all began with a ruined elixir and an accidental bolt of lightning…

Iolanthe Seabourne is the greatest elemental mage of her generation—or so she’s being told. The one prophesied for years to be the savior of The Realm. It is her duty and destiny to face and defeat the Bane, the greatest mage tyrant the world has ever known. A suicide task for anyone let alone a sixteen-year-old girl with no training, facing a prophecy that foretells a fiery clash to the death.

Prince Titus of Elberon has sworn to protect Iolanthe at all costs but he’s also a powerful mage committed to obliterating the Bane to avenge the death of his family—even if he must sacrifice both Iolanthe and himself to achieve his goal.

But Titus makes the terrifying mistake of falling in love with the girl who should have been only a means to an end. Now, with the servants of the Bane closing in, he must choose between his mission and her life.

I don’t know if I just wasn’t in the mood to read it or what, but I couldn’t get into this book at all. I love high fantasy, but for some reason this one bored me. I didn’t feel like forcing myself any farther, so I moved on. I do want to try to read this one again someday, though.

16 responses to “Books I Didn’t Finish: September 2013”

I read Blackout last week and I agree, it was hard to get into but it did get better! I haven’t read The Burning Sky but I’ve heard so many great things about it, it sucks that it didn’t work for you :(

This is such a bummer! I have both of these still to read and I’ve heard both good and bad things about them. It’s making me drag my feet about actually picking them up but I do want to at least give them a try. Hopefully I’ll get the motivation soon! And hopefully you’ll find a more enjoyable book to read!

Bummer that you didn’t get through Blackout :( But if you didn’t like the first part then I really don’t think you would have liked the rest. And although I did finish The Burning Sky, I totally get where you’re coming from with that one. I kind of liked it, but I also felt pretty indifferent towards it, which was weird.

Sometimes it’s just a matter of mood! There’s been a couple books that I had to try twice to get into, which makes me feel bad when I DNF something….because what if I could love it if only I was in the right mood?!

I do hope when/if ever you try The Burning Sky, you’ll like it a lot more. In the beginning of the year, something similar happened to me with Shadow and Bone. I read some of it, but returned it to the library without finishing it because I couldn’t get into it. Many months later, I won Siege and Storm, then bought Shadow and Bone so I could read it then read the next one. I absolutely love both and the series is one of my new favorites!

So, maybe in a few months, you’ll be in the mood for a fantasy, pick up The Burning Sky and find yourself really into it!